The Specifics of Vulcan Daemons
by Tinoka
Summary: Humans are always surprised to see that Spock's dæmon hasn't settled. Kirk/Spock slash


**The Specifics of Vulcan Daemons**

**Summary:** Inspired by prompt at **st_xi_kink** :

_His Dark Materials crossover.  
Humans are always surprised to see that Spock's dæmon hasn't settled, turns out Vulcan dæmons don't settle until their first Pon Farr or until they form a lifebond, whichever anon chooses.  
There is a secret pool on what Spock's will settle as and also when/how that will happen.  
_**A/N:** I sadly can not write accents :(

**1**

„We should not need to explain it again," Nami said to Spock from her usual position on his left shoulder. Her expression was, unlike Commander´s neutral one, as annoyed as her small lizard face managed.

She was watching the new Yeoman´s canine daemon, which had been rude enough to point out to his human that Nami still changed forms.

„I keep recommending that they include the facts into Xenobiology curriculum," Spock replied calmly. „You would be then aware, Yeoman, that our species are considerably different in many ways. Unlike human, Vulcan daemons are not connected to our physical or sexual maturity."

Captain Kirk turned away from them to hide his smirk. He had heard the explanation many times before.

When he himself had first realised the anomaly in Nami´s behaviour, he had just been proving the Vulcan was compromised emotionally. She had taken on a form of fierce Vulcan flying animal – something that could be called a bird with some fantasy – and attacked Jim´s own eagle Erna. That had not been a pleasant way to discover it.

„When Vulcan´s daemon loses his ability to transform, the Vulcan had formed a lifetime bond with his or her spouse," Spock finished and the Yeoman sighed.

„That´s romantic."

Science Officer raised one of his brows. „One could say so, perhaps."

**  
2**

Jim loved the long evenings filled with chess and conversation, which brought him a little closer to the Vulcan.

Originally, it had been the older Spock´s recommendation – his answer to Captain Kirk´s frustrated questions.

Chess.

Commander Spock played great, through irritation game of chess and after many loses Jim decided to go with intuitive and illogical moves. They may have not brought a victory, but they clearly annoyed Spock and that was rather satisfying.

Nami changed every time Kirk touched a figure, while not a muscle moved in Commander´s face.

„You know," Jim said and rested his chin against his hands, „I think I´ll miss it, when you marry Uhura."

Nami stilled and Spock´s eyebrow flew to the sky.

„What do you mean, Captain?"

Erna opened one eye. She was sitting above Jim´s head, pretending to sleep.

„We´ll miss Nami´s changes, when you form that lifetime bond," she turned her gaze to the lemur standing by Commander in a wary position.

„Erna means to say we like to know what´s going on behind that serious mask of yours. And Nami´s usually a good key to it."

Spock nodded slowly. „I am aware that my daemon is not able to control her emotions as well as I do..."

„I am training, however."

„And while many Vulcans would find it illogical, I respect your opinion as I am aware of the way humans think. I have an information you may be pleased by: you will not need to miss Nami´s transformations anytime soon, because I have no intentions to marry Lt. Uhura."

Jim blinked and Erna opened both eyes. Nami crawled onto the top of Commander´s head, changing into a small mouse. She watched them with her little round eyes and Jim almost felt the need to touch her and find out whether her fur was as soft as it looked.

However, he could not do that. You do not touch someone else´s daemon, especially if you respect that person – and know that said person is three times stronger than you are.

„You don´t?"

„It is illogical to take a form of natural prey of someone in your presence," Spock informed his daemon. „I do not, Captain. Also, I believe it is a human custom to have a romantic relationship previous to marriage."

Erna left her post and settled on the edge of Captain´s seat to be closer to the centre of conversation. There was only one being abroad that was more curious – Ensign Chekov´s rat daemon Glory.

The mouse slide under Spock´s blue Science shirt.

„Not gonna eat you, little thing," the eagle reassured her. „Though maybe you´d deserve it... my wings still hurt sometimes..."

„Was our fault, Erna," Kirk frowned.

„Actually, it was his," the daemon opposed. „The future him, that´s it. Still him, though."

„Erna, don´t," he ordered and turned to his First Officer. „I thought you and Uhura..."

„We have ceased our relationship several months ago as it was not rewarding to either of us. Also, I have to remind you it is your turn, Captain."

„Why do I need to keep repeating my name´s Jim?"

**  
3**

„Jimmy-boy," McCoy grinned.

Shore leave was the best thing ever, at least according to James T. Kirk. As long as you did not attempt to spend it on a planet that wanted to eat you alive or being hunted by tigers or almost stoned by the resident life-forms, because your daemons were considered a sign of dark magic.

This planet, however, was rather peaceful and the bars were great.

Jim noted that his crewmen had already started drinking. The ferret, which sat on Bones's shoulder, had a little too much shine in her eyes and Pavel´s Glory was sitting on the top of his head and speaking fluent French without pause – Jim was not eve aware the boy knew the language (or maybe he even did not... the local alcohol was said to do wonders.)

„You shouldn´t," Lt. Sulu frowned and his macaque daemon Hajra snatched Chekov´s glass.

„Hey!" the offended boy called. „I´m legal in this Galaxy´s corner!"

„Jim," doctor pulled the Captain, forcing him to sit. „You wanna bet with us?"

„You must, Captain," Lt. Sulu insisted.

„Depends what you´re betting on," Kirk filled his glass with the strange-looking liquid.

„Goblin´s daemon," McCoy answered, refilling his own glass. „He´s gotta stop changing once... and then someone´ll win some money."

„Já... I say... not moral," Pavel looked at Kirk through the bottom of his glass, his eye ridiculously big.

Sulu took out his notepad and read aloud: „Ensign Pavel Chekov, 100 Kredits on cougar."

„Cougar? Where the fuck did that come form?"

Pavel shrugged. „He´s... he´s..." he frowned and looked at Sulu accusingly. „Where the fuck did that come from?"

Jim decided he was not drunk enough for this and something had to be done about it very quickly - before he changed his mind.

„Why don´t you tell us your opinion?" doctor pushed Jims hand. He was drunk, but not even half as much as the poor young Ensign Chekov. „You´re the closest thing he´s got to friend."

„Why don´t you ask Uhura?"

„Not dating anymore," Chekov pointed out.

„They´re still friends," Kirk opposed and for some reason - it had to be caused by the alcohol – he thought it was not fair. Not fair that she was Spock´s friend, even after she had broken up with him, and he, Jim, despite all his effort, could not make the Vulcan call him by his first name.

„She won´t bet with us," Sulu said sadly.

**4**

The world was spinning.

He felt the freezing floor under his back and there were two dark eyes staring at him from above.

„Bea... beauti...ful," he managed.

„I am afraid you may be hallucinating, Captain," the angel said. „I wish to help you, but I do not want to cross any boarders. Do you find yourself capable of holding your daemon?"

He managed to lift one hand and touch the eagle laying on his chest.

„I can take her," a female voice offered and Erna was taken off of his body. Then there were two strong hands pulling him up to his feet.

„You should not drink such amounts of alcohol, Captain."

„You are an angel, aren´t you?"

One of the magnificent brows rose. „Do you not recognise me, Captain?"

Jim noticed a black chimpanzee holding Erna in its arms gently. That did not surprise him at all – angels had to have daemons, too.

**5**

When he woke up the following morning, he swore the next shore leave there would be no drinking.

His head hurt in the most horrible way and his mouth was dry. The light in his cabin was way too bright, but he had no power to do anything about it.

The door opened.

"Lights to 15%," a familiar voice said.

"Don´t shout," Jim whined and opened one eye.

There was his First Officer with expressionless face, hypospray in one hand and Nami in form of ferret similar to doctor McCoy´s on his shoulder.

"I will attempt to keep my voice on acceptable level," Spock whispered. "This has been send by doctor McCoy. He says – and I quote – that if you feel half as... fucked up was the expression he has used... as he does, than you will need it as well as the day off he is giving you."

There was a clear disapproval, but Jim still hope the Vulcan pitied him just a little.

Nami left Commander´s shoulder and transformed into a – probably Vulcan – animal he did not know. Stunned, he watched her snuggle depressed Erna gently. He was so engrossed in that scene that he barely noticed the hypospray.

A wave of relief washed over his body, but most of the hangover was still present.

Commander Spock sat down on the edge of Jim´s bed, careful not to touch him, and said: "Humans indeed are irrational beings, Captain. I can not understand why would anyone drink partly toxic beverages. It seems illogical."

Kirk merely grinned.

"Why do you take care of me, like this?" it occurred to him suddenly. "Where is my Yeoman?"

Spock raised one eyebrow. "On the shore leave, of course. She belongs to today´s party as you should remember. Does my presence cause you distress, Captain?"

"No! Not at all. I was just wondering... and my name is Jim."

The pain in his head was considerably weaker.

"Yeoman Rand ceases to understand that my transformations are natural," Nami pointed out suddenly. "It seems to cause her a shock, every time."

"Do you not like Rand, Spock?"

"I see no logic in disliking a person I have neglectable contact with. In fact, I am unable to see a logic in disliking anyone at all."

"What about these who destroy your planet?" Erna muttered to Nami and Commander stiffened.

"We make an exception for those," Nami admitted.

Spock straightened his shirt unnecessarily and stood up. "I believe it would be wise to leave you to your rest, Captain."

He had almost reached the door, when Jim called after him: "Stay, please!"  
Nami leaned her now bird´s head to one side. "We are needed on the bridge," she reminded Spock.

"Lt. Sulu will be delighted to have the command for a while longer," Commander opposed. "It is our duty to cease Captain´s suffering."

In the end Spock read him a book until he fell asleep and when he woke up, he was alone, but he felt considerably better.

"You know," Erna mused. "I don´t think there are angels with pointy ears."

"I think there indeed are."

**  
6**

"Captain! Captain Kirk!"

He turned to see Scotty marching after him.

"What is the matter, Mr. Scott?"

"Captain, I need to know! When will Mr. Spock´s daemon stop changing?"

That made Jim open his mouth and close it again. "Why do you ask me that? How should I know?"

The engineer shrugged. "Everyone says you gotta know, Captain... They say you´re... That you gotta know."

Of course there was some strange new rumour behind this encounter. Or maybe it was not even new. He had noticed that people watched them closely – they were the highest commanding officers, after all – and that they formed various theories about the relationship between them.

According to some they secretly hated each other and the Vulcan desired to command Enterprise himself. The other extreme, one that Jim found himself liking, was that they were engaged in a romantic relationship and maybe even... engaged.

"That doesn´t make sense, Scotty, but never mind. Why do you need to know, anyway?"

He moved again, ready to reach the bridge on time for once and Mr. Scott set off to walk beside him.

"I wanna order some things, they´ve got great prices on Orion right now... But I need to know how much Kredits I can waste, first."

Kirk decided it was safer not to wonder what Orion could offer. Instead, he asked: How can you be sure you´ll win?"

"Well," the engineer grinned. "I have bet on the same animal you did. Seems you´re pretty sure, with that amount..."

Jim did not remember what he had bet on. In fact, he did not remember betting. Maybe, just maybe, was his First Officer right and drinking was dangerous.

"How much, exactly, did I bet?"

"You don´t remember?" Scotty´s smile fell. "One million Kredits, sir."

**  
7**

"I was really drunk," he complained.

Erna was tiding her feathers with an angry focus. As always when they were distressed or nervous.

Spock watched him bemusedly with one brow up.

"I mean, is there no regulation against it?" Kirk moved his pawn without thinking.

"Actually," Spock looked at the figures thoughtfully, "I believe there is a regulation against hazard, which placing bet could be classified as.

However, I would recommend not to use it against your crew, as you yourself break it on regular basis. Which, I have to point out, is not wise."

Jim sighed. "It´s your fault, Spock. You´re too bloody fascinating."

Commander eyed him with an expression Jim recognised as curious. Nami raised her head from where she was laying on the floor in a form of something big and carnivorous.

"Look. No offense, Spock, but you´re strange. Half the crew thinks you´re something close to a robot." He frowned. "I know pretty well there´re emotions behind that mask of yours, but they don´t. So they have to be curious. They wonder what will Nami turn out to be."

"And you, Jim? Do you not wonder?"

Sighing again, he admitted: "Yeah. But really, I don´t ever want her to stop changing."

Commander took his bishop with his knight and asked: "It is so important for you to know what I feel?"

Kirk shrugged. "That´s not it, really. I think I am starting to get your own facial expressions... I just can´t think about the day you marry and leave me and Enterprise behind."

There was a moment of silence.

"We will never leave you," Nami said sooner than Spock managed to react. "You are important to us."

"We respect you, Captain," Commander said gently, "even though you are the most illogical and irracional of all humans. We wish to stay in contact with you, wherever the route of live will lead us in the future." He leaned closer to Kirk. "I am and always shall be your friend."

That´s not enough, Jim thought, but said nothing. It was indeed more than he deserved, but still not as much as he would like.

"Tell me," Nami said, "what form should I have? Is there any you prefer? What have you bet on?"

Both Spock and Erna looked at her in a mixture of surprise and disapproval. It was not the most appropriate of questions and where it anyone else´s daemon which approached him so directly, Captain would be shocked.

"Sehlat," he answered slowly. "But I don´t really know what that is. Only that it comes from Vulcan."

Nami stood up, showing the whole high of her magnificent form. "Then take a good look," she said, amusement clear in her voice.

"Interesting choice," Spock judged.

**8**

Naturally, the room had only one double bed. That were the difficulties when working in disguise – lack of fund and options.

"We are intelligent people," Spock said. "This situation should not be a large problem. Which side do you prefer, Jim?"

Erna, flying above Jim´s head, expressed her bemusement by angrily stating she saw no place for her to rest on, but Jim just shrugged. He was tired, someone had tried to kill him twice in one day and he had learned that Spock´s first name was indeed unpronounceable and that frustrated him.

"Doesn´t matter," he growled and watched Commander set his luggage on one side of the bed. The Vulcan then pulled out a communicator.

"I will attempt to contact Mr. Scott. He should be able to get us back onto the Enterprise in case the transporters are functional."

Jim was starting to believe functional transporters were a myth. Out of six missions, five almost failed due to malfunctions in them. However, he nodded and fell backwards onto the bed, eyeing the roof warily. Erna sat down onto one of the shelves.

"We deserve better accommodation," she stated.

"That is sadly not reflected in our financial situation," Spock replied from where he was trying to repair the small machine. One communicator lost, the other broken. Were the live not entirely perfect?

It was rather unusual to talk to another´s daemon. McCoy´s Adena had never addressed Jim – though Erna spoke to doctor on occasions, especially when Kirk is being stabbed with hyposprays – and Uhura´s Rys crow had insulted him several times, but that was never done directly – instead the daemon told Uhura his opinion unnecessarily loudly. That was probably why people guessed them to be even closer than they actually were.

"Where´s Nami?" Jim asked and the Vulcan´s daemon appeared from under the man´s shirt. She had a form of one alien animal they had encountered recently. She often took on the appearance of the animals they saw on their voyage and while Spock claimed it was purely for a scientific purpose, Jim suspected it was a great fun for her.

He smiled and pulled the blanked over himself. "I´m too tired to plan how to save our lives," he yawned. "You two should go to bed, too."

He did not even know when he fell asleep, watching Spock leaned above his work, but when the Vulcan crawled quietly into the bed, he had been sleeping for a long time.

**9**

"Look at them," Erna whispered.

Spock and Nami were fast asleep. The man´s features were wonderfully calm – and Jim remembered how he once believed him to be an angel – and his daemon, in the form of large Vulcan animal, slept with her head on the bed and body on the floor.

"They are so peaceful," the eagle said.

Jim watched the white skin of his friend with green shades and his slow breathing and let himself be fascinated by Nami´s fur. He sat there, just inches from her head and wondered, what would her coat feel under his fingers.

"Sehlats are now an extinct species."

He jumped in surprise.

"Our scientists are still searching," Spock continued calmly and Nami opened her eyes almost lazily, "in hope there are any left in zoos somewhere in the galaxy, but with no success."

Jim nodded slowly. "It´s shame. They´re rather beautiful... in the big dangerous way."

"Jim... I believe I would not feel discomfort if you touched her."  
Captain´s eyes widened. "Do you mean that?"

"I would not have said it otherwise, that would be highly illogical."

He had never touched other´s daemon before. It was... He desired to touch her, yet it was scary. He reached his hand, but stopped an inch from her head.

"Please, proceed with your action," sehlat said quietly.

Erna had left his shoulder and was flying in circles above their heads. Jim rested the tips of his fingers on Nami´s forehead and, hearing Spock take in a sharp breath, pulled them away.

"You do not need to stop," the Vulcan urged him almost gently. Kirk looked at him and saw expectation in the other´s eyes.

Gathering all his courage, he pressed his hand against the soft fur softly and Nami closed her eyes. He caressed the wonderful head.

It was strange and beautiful.

Once again he turned to his First Officer and watched the calm, magnificent features.

Erna landed on his shoulder again and stretched her body towards the Vulcan. That was when Jim realised he wanted to feel what Spock did.

"Jim," Spock asked slowly, lifting his own hand to touch the eagle, "is it possible that the emotion I feel... that it is love?"

"Yes," Jim answered, his heart in his throat. "I bloody hope so."

**  
10**

They had the Terran marriage ceremony first, because Earth was closer and they could not wait any longer.

Some wondered why, as they had been dating for years without the need to get married or bonded and suddenly they rushed into it as if the world was about to end.

However, Jim knew his reasons behind that change. They saw too much death in the past months and were also too close to it at many occasions. The final decision had been made when Ensing Smith died two weeks before her wedding.

He did not need a paper to be sure they loved each other, however, he desired the closeness the bond promised. Also, had he died, he wanted Spock to be treated respectfully as his husband, not as someone he only slept with. The Enterprise crew would do so, but the rest of the world... he was not certain about that.

And so they had a quiet little wedding with their friends and Jim´s mother, which would be followed by Vulcan ceremony the next time they reached the planet. Their friends laughed, congratulated and some even cried. Bones shook his head as if he was unable to understand what was the point of the whole thing and Sulu, to Jim´s great relief, agreed to forget the bet, claiming that decision to be his wedding gift to the captain.  
Spock completed the bond that night.

Therefore Jim was laying snuggled next to his sleeping husband, watching the stars through the window. He reached over Spock´s body and rested his hand on Nami´s head. She was sleeping there with Erna cuddled between her large paws.

She opened her eyes.

"Why did you choose this form?" he asked her quietly. "Because I have bet on it?"

"Negative," she answered. "I merely assumed you preferred it."


End file.
